James - Introduction

In this season of growing deep, I have chosen to do a simple study on the book of James and I would like to share with you what I have learnt.

Overview
The book of James is thought to be one of the earliest New Testament letters (i.e. before Paul’s epistles were written). The most probable author of the book was James, the half brother of Jesus and it was written to the Jewish Christians who had been scattered throughout the Mediterranean world because of persecution. In the hostile surroundings, they were tempted to equate intellectual agreement with true faith. The main theme of this book is about the working out of your faith (Phil 2:12).

It is well known that Martin Luther (who started the Protestant movement) had problems with this book. He called it a “right strawy epistle”. He had misinterpreted the practical faith as mentioned by James for saving faith i.e. we are saved by faith and not by works (Rom 1: 17, Gal 2:20). Luther’s suspicion and others’ misunderstanding of the book of James was because of the different settings that they faced. During the reformation period, Luther was fighting a fierce battle with those who taught salvation by faith plus works and James’ teaching seemed to be against his belief. However, James was concerned with how the new faith in Jesus was expressed in the lives of the members of the early community i.e. a genuine faith will produce good works.

Paul and James were, in fact, exploring the different aspects of a common salvation. An interesting illustration was that Paul was explaining what happened at birth whereas James was changing diapers and holding the hands of toddlers as they learned to walk. (Continued...)

Some key contrasts between James’ epistle and Paul’s epistles:

James	Paul
stressed the work of the believer in relation to faith	stressed the work of Christ in relation to faith
was concerned that the outcome of faith	was concerned with the object of faith
wrote shortly after the Resurrection, when the church was Jewish and the Old Testament was well known	wrote later, when the conversion of Gentiles raised questions never asked or thought of earlier

Essentially, the book of James is about working out your salvation (Phil 2: 12). He wants believers to hear the faith but also to do it. He contrasts empty faith claims without conduct) with faith that works. Commitment to love and to serve is evidence of true faith. The themes in the book include living faith, trials, law of love, wise speech and wealth.

One key learning point is that we must be careful to read the Scripture in the context of its own time and not our times. If spiritual giant like Martin Luther could misinterpret the Scripture due to the setting that he was in, the more we should be mindful as we read the Scripture. Thanks be to God that He has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us as we read His Word. We may then draw the underlying principles appropriately and apply it in our context. Remember to pray for wisdom and understanding before you read the Word of God.


Andrew